A Qualitative Study of the Role of Friendship in Late Adolescent and Young Adult Heterosexual Romantic Relationships

Billy Kidd,Don Martin,Magy Martin

doi:10.5964/ijpr.v6i1.104

Abstract

Friendship is considered one of the pillars of satisfying, long-term, romantic relationships and marriage. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the role of friendship in heterosexual romantic relationships. Eight single participants, ages 18 to 29, were selected from two West Coast metropolitan areas in the United States to explore whether or not friendship facilitates future long term relationships. Participants reported that friendship helped establish economic independence, adult identity and improved communication skills. Participants also reported that the development and stability of long term relationships was tenuous and temporal in their lives. Late adolescents and young adults in our study believed that their selection of partners was very different than their parents and that the success of their long term relationships was enhanced by a strong friendship with their partner.

Highlights

Certain psychosocial factors have been found to document that adult romantic affiliations are defined differently by the younger generation
There has been a sizable shift in sociocultural forces such as technological innovations, a globalized job market, constant mobility, shifting gender roles as well as the deinstitutionalization of marriage that influence late adolescent and young urban adult romantic relationships (Arnett, 2004, Coontz, 2006; Le Bourdais & Lapierre-Adamcyk, 2004)
There is no clear agreement on what factors create a friendship-based romantic relationship (Masuda, 2003; Schwartz, 2002, 2004) and researchers have only recently begun to examine the role of friendship in these romantic relationships

Summary

Introduction

Certain psychosocial factors have been found to document that adult romantic affiliations are defined differently by the younger generation. There has been a sizable shift in sociocultural forces such as technological innovations, a globalized job market, constant mobility, shifting gender roles as well as the deinstitutionalization of marriage that influence late adolescent and young urban adult romantic relationships (Arnett, 2004, Coontz, 2006; Le Bourdais & Lapierre-Adamcyk, 2004). The issues of equity and equality are often negotiated by each couple, and this model has replaced the traditional or hierarchical male-dominated model of marriage (Coontz, 2006) The quality of these friendships correlates with the projected length of their romantic relationship (Gottman, 2004). If a viable friendship allows romantic partners to accept each other’s maturation and emotional growth, it follows that friendship may be seen as the foundation on which a satisfying marriage may rest (Schwartz, 2004)

Objectives

Conclusion